His final promise
by itmarina
Summary: Inuyasha died, alongside Kikyou in the final battle against Naraku. Kagome made the right wish, the shikon no tama disappeared and she came back to her normal life. Three years later, now unable to go through the well, she's still heartbroken and looking for herself in a world she forgot how to live in. However, she's about to find out, InuYasha kept his final promise to her.
1. The Cashier

It's been three years.

Today is the anniversary of Naraku's death.

And Inuyasha's.

It's always such a sad date, and I always catch myself a little longer in bed, or in the shower, where no one can hear me cry.

I do my best to hide it, but my mom always knows. Today was not different. She didn't say anything, but had cooked my favorites for breakfast and gave me a kiss on the forehead.

I was wearing more makeup then usual, because I didn't sleep well. I kept seeing it, I kept running towards InuYasha's inanimate body, but never made it in time. His body disappeared before I got there and only his rosary remained on the ground.

When I had that dream, my necklace always felt heavy on my chest.

I had saved a teeth and four beads from the rosary, to keep to myself as a memory of my beloved hanyou. I turned into a necklace for myself and wear under my clothes all the time. The rest of it was buried, along with the Tetsusaiga, right next to Kikyou's grave.

Some other times, I dreamed of his voice:

" _KAGOME, LISTEN TO ME, LISTEN TO ME NOW. I LOVE YOU DO YOU HEAR ME? WE_ _'_ _LL BE TOGETHER SOMEDAY I PROMISE._ _"_

" _No matter what happens here, I promise I_ _'_ _ll find you again._ "

Those were his last words to me, and I, hung on to them for a while, even though I knew nothing would happen. Soon I realized I couldn't go on waiting for something to happen, I had to move on. Inuyasha was dead, with Kikyou, the way he wanted, but I was not, and I intended to remain alive and be happy.

Honestly, I thought I was doing fine. I went out with Houjo a couple of times, studied so hard I managed to enter a good school for high school, and afterwards, made to the top 10 list. I went out with my friends all the time, had new experiences, got to know other towns outside Tokyo…

Romeo and Juliet became favorite book though, I cried no matter how many times I read. I read it so obsessively, that I actually learned English, partially because I wanted to read the book in it's original version so badly. I couldn't help but think those were Inuyasha and Kikyo dying together.

Today, the book was in my bag, a sort of comfortable weight, and I was in Yuka's new house, trying to distract myself from InuYasha's memories.

"And then, I swear he said, it was the cat!" We all burst into laughter and Erin actually spilled water through her nose. "It was the cat! Can you believe it?" Yuka said, in tears of laughter.

After Yuka's house, I went to a petshop nearby, because I needed to buy food for Buyo, and my mom had texted me warning the petshop close to our shrine was closed for some reason.

I walked down the street, looking for the petshop Yuka had recommended, "The cashier is so CUTE." She said. "and nice too! He'd be perfect for you, K-chan!" Yuka and the others never talked about it, but I knew that they knew, that I never got over my "bad boy boyfriend".

I didn't really care about the cashier, I was honestly not in the mood, but, I really needed cat food, and the store was on the way to the train station.

Soon enough, I got to the small pet store. The display had several puppies for adoption and some beds and toys for dogs.

Inside, it was an old fashioned store, small, crowded with food and toys, and kind of messy.

I just stared looking among the brands for the cat food Buyo normally eat.

"Hi, can I help you?" I heard a voice behind me.

 _So that_ _'_ _s the cute cashier_ , I thought, distracted.

"Yes, hum, I'm looking for a specific brand, I don't know if you have it." I said without turning around, still looking to the cat food. "Do you have cat food for diabetic cats?"

And then, I turned around to face the cashier, and lost my breath.

InuYasha was standing, with behind the counter, in his human form, looking at me with big blue eyes.


	2. The box

" _Yes, hum, I'm looking for a specific brand, I don't know if you have it." I said without turning around, still looking to the cat food. "Do you have cat food for diabetic cats?"_

 _And then, I turned around to face the cashier, and lost my breath._

 _InuYasha was standing, with behind the counter, in his human form, looking at me with big blue eyes._

I stood there, for a second, looking like an idiot, as I saw my dear, beloved InuYasha, walk from behind the counter and come look to the cat food for me.

"Hum, I'm sure we have it." He said distractedly, looking through the colorful packets of cat food. "Oh, here it is. Is this the brand you want?"

I shook my head, trying to compose myself, and holding back the urge to embrace him. "Yes." I said, without even looking to the packet. "I'll take it!" My voice came out weak and weird and I coughed a little bit, to pretend I had a cold.

"OK! Which size do you want?"

"hum, what's the biggest?"

"This one." He said lifting a huge orange packet with a cute cat on it. "You must have a fat cat."

I forced a laughter and said "I guess you can say that."

He smiled to me, and my heart skipped a bit.

It was not a InuYasha smile though, it was not confident, or mockery, and didn't have a trace of sadness in it.

It was just a plain, simple, nice, smile, from a nice salesman to his costumer.

He didn't remember me.

The Inuyasha-like-kid took the huge, heavy packet to the cashier, with me walking quietly behind him, and asked "Do you want something else?"

I blushed for no reason, and looked around, thinking of something else Buyo might need, but I my mind seemed to have gone blank. "No, I think that's it. Thank you."

I smiled at him, but he already had his attention turned to the cash machine and didn't see me.

I don't even remember how I left the store. I don't even know how I carried this huge packet of cat food back to my house, I don't even know how I got to my bed.

I just know, that, he was identical to Inuyasha, _identical_ to him. His eyes were a little bit different, I think, but I never noticed what color human Inuyasha eyes were. I only saw him in the dark, nad never noticed if his eyes could be anything other than the usual Japanese brown.

My heart was beating so strong in my chest, I wanted to go back to the store and kiss him, and hug him and tell him how much I missed him. How hurt I was that he chose to die with Kikyou…

Could he be Inuyasha's reincarnation though?

Could he have reincarnated to be with me, in my era?

Suddently, I understood Inuyasha's relationship with kikyou and his feelings towards me, better than ever.

I took a shower to clear my mind, and try to think straight.

I had a strange urge to cry, and to jump out of joy at the same time.

He _was not_ Inuyasha, _Inuyasha was dead_. And he didn't smile that way, or walked like that, or knew how to use a register.

I got to my room, and slowly opened the bottom drawer of my closet, looking for a box I had hidden from myself. There, I had a single picture of Inuyasha in a nice frame. I had put it away so to stop me from looking at it too much. He looked handsome and confident in the photo, looking straight to my camera, with his arms in front of his chest, like he usually did, Tetsusaiga on his side, and a little smile on his face.

I also had pictures of Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kaede, and even Myouga. I took pictures of them all, when I realized I wouldn't be able to visit them forever. I miss them all so much.

And, under all those pics, carefully folded, carefully and affectionately stored, was Inuyasha's robe of the fire-rat.

I was wearing it during the final battle, partially of why Inuyasha got so badly injured, so it didn't disappear with his body. I hadn't looked at it in three whole years.

" _No matter what happens here, I promise I'll find you again._ "

I put the box away without taking anything inside of it.

Abruptly, I started crying my eyes out.

" _I want to live._ " I thought, clenching the wrists, and seeing my tears fall on my lap. " _I don't want to keep hanging on to this love._ _I want to be happy and move on, find somebody else and be happy with a family. Why can't a leave this love in the past?"_

It was such a short phase of my life, a single year, and I couldn't live as if nothing had happened anymore.

Knowing that if I slept I'd have a nightmare, I sat down and started studying.


	3. Coffee

" _I promise I'll find you again._ "

I came back to the pet shop on the other side of town for no reason, I just put in my head that Buyo needed a new collar and caught the train to go this _specific_ pet store.

I entered the small pet store with my hands shaking, terrified and excited.

"Hello young lady." I was greeted by a small, old man, that was behind the cashier, exactly where human-InuYasha was standing yesterday.

I swallowed my disappointment, and asked if they had collars for cats.

The old man was called Jizo, and he was very good humored and funny. We talked for a while about cats and pets in general (he was a veterinary), and he started bringing all types of colorful collars from all over the place, and we started having fun while thinking how Buyo would look in a pink, fluffy collar.

At some point, he said, "Hum, I need to get this box there." And pointed to a high shelf that had a brown box, still sealed, on it. "but I see none of us is high enough."

"LI! Can you come here please!" He screamed.

I felt my heart skip a beat again, as I heard steps from behind the store.

"Yes grandpa…" Human-Inuyasha showed up from behind a curtain-door in the corner, looking bored.

There was a moment, then, when we looked at each other and I just felt the world stop for a second.

" _Inuyasha._ " I thought, feeling emotional all of sudden.

He walked towards us, now curious, and, sort of… blushed?

"Now, Li, why don't you get for us that box on the top shelf over there?" He said, cheeky, in a very good mood. "Thank you, dear. Now, I believe that's the beautiful young lady that caught your eye two days ago isn't it?"

Li-Inuyasha suddently became clumsy, and let the box fall on the ground. I saw his face for a second, and he was so red, I expected smoke to come out of his ears.

I felt myself blushing too, but out of joy. " _Does he think I'm beautiful? Does he remember me_ "

"I'll leave you two now, my back huuuuuurts…"

He walked to the door behind the curtains as if he felt he had finished his job ("it was a pleasure meeting you, young lady"), and left us alone with a pile of collars splashed on the ground.

There was a moment of silence, when we just looked at each other. Inuyasha's face was still blushed and he looked almost mortified.

"Sorry about this." He said, finally, with a nervous laugh, and then started talking really fast. "Sooo, you were looking for, hum, a collar? For your fat cat? I MEAN, your cat, your very cute cat…"

"I'm Kagome." I said, smiling and feeling very happy all of sudden. I made a small reverence. "Nice to meet you. And Buyo is indeed really fat."

He smiled, nervous, but relieved at the same time. More handsome than ever. "I'm Li. I'm the grandson of the back-aching, small, crazy veterinary you were talking to."

"Nice meeting you." I said again.

We just stood there looking at each other, like two idiots, not knowing what to say next.

Finally, Li started getting the collars from the ground (still red) and I quickly started helping him.

"I got it, really." He said, putting a big blue collar in the box.

"Let me help you, it's okay. It's kind of my fault they fell anyway."

"NO, no, it isn't really!" he paused for a second and then said, blushing again. "I shouldn't have said anything to my grandfather anyway, he likes to gossip a little too much."

"I'm glad you did." I said, putting a vibrant green collar in the box, shocked with my courage.

He didn't say anything, but a timid smile spread across his face.

We finished collecting everything on the ground, and he took the big box to the counter.

"So, you were looking for a collar for your cat? I'm seeing he showed you a lot of stuff." He said looking the mess me and his grandfather had made. "I didn't even know we had all that."

I laughed a little bit. "Yeah, hum, we just started chatting and when I saw we were having fun looking at this really crazy cat stuff."

"He's easy to talk like that." Li said, smiling affectionately, as if he was remembering something funny. "How long have you been here? I went out to pick up some medicine and when I came back you were here."

Before I could answer though, Mr. Jizo appeared from behind the curtain and said "Li, do you mind taking Mr. Hero for a walk? He really needs to pee, and we don't want him to have a urinary infection aga… Oh, hello, young lady, you're still here? Good. Why don't you two go and take Mr. Hero for a walk then. Li, please take some money from the register and pay this lovely girl a tea, as a thank you for spending so much time talking to this old man." He stepped to the side to let a big, fat, wimpy, brownish, old dog pass. "Thank you, son!" And disappeared back inside.

Inuya… I mean Li, had one of his hands on covering his face, as if he wanted to pretend he didn't see this grandfather saying all that. I could feel his pain, I mean, even I was sort of embarrassed.

I tried to ignore the tension and greeted the old dog instead.

"Hello, Mr." I said, with a child-like voice and gave my hand for him to sniff. "Are you Mr. Hero? What a cute dog you are." I started patting him and his tail went wild with joy.

Li cleared his throat and said. "Hum, so, I gotta walk him, and, hum, do you still want a cat for your collar, I mean, a collar for your cat? And hum, would you like to come walk him, I mean, my dog, with me?"

"I'd love it." I said, with a smile, and saw, happily, as he blushed again.

Mr. Hero was walking ahead of us, happily bouncing his butt and tail, sniffing everything he could reach. Me and Li on the other hand, were quiet most of the way, neither of us knowing how to start a conversation.

I wanted to look at him forever, but, at the same time, didn't want to look like a creep. Was he Inuyasha's reincarnation? Did he remember me? Was he a hanyou too?

"Soo..." I started. "Why Mr. Hero?"

He blushed and said. "Because I was 10, and It seemed like an incredible name at that age."

I laughed and said. "Mr. Hero is a very cool name, still."

"I'm glad at least one of us thinks that." He said laughing.

"Do you speak English then? I mean, _Mr._ Hero, is a very American name."

"Yeah, I study in the American-Japanese school ever since I can remember." He said, distantly.

One more thing I knew about Li now, he was _half American,_ I wondered if the reason he lived with the grandpa had to do with an American father who died in the war…

We stopped in an American coffee shop, where we could sit outside and enjoy a great sunny day, while Mr. Hero lied next to Li's chair.

We started looking to our menus, in silence, when a happy voice came to us.

"LI, MA BOY, HELLO! What an honor having you in our humble coffee at this time of the day!" A boy that seemed to be our age, approached us. He was tall and handsome, with striking blue hair, a big smile on his face, and wearing an apron with the Cafe's name on it. "Shouldn't you be putting thermometers on dog's asses or something? HELLO MR. HERO. HOW ARE YOU MA PRETTY BOY."

The blue hair boy went down to pat Mr. Hero, what was beside himself with joy.

I could see a vein poking in Li's forehead, but when he answered, his voice was calm. "Hey, Griff, the movement was slow today and I needed to walk Mr. Hero! _And that's Kagome_." He said the last part with a harsher tone, as if to make the blue hair guy notice my presence.

Blue hair guy stopped greeting a happy Mr. Hero and turned his attention to me. He didn't look Japanese at all, he had western features and big sea-green eyes. "Of course I noticed you had a girl with ya. That' why I'm speaking Japanese this whole time. And hello Kagome. Nice to meet you. Too bad you ended up here with this sucker! Haha"

I said a quiet hello, not knowing what to do with this greeting, should I laugh? Or say thank you?

" _Griff, I think we are ready to order_." Inu-Li said in an angry-embarresed, constrained voice.

"Sure, ma boy, whatever you want, you get. And you beautiful-lady-Kagome, are you ready to order too?"

"Hum, I'll just have whatever Li is having."

"OH, NO! You don't want that. _He's a vegetarian, this crazy guy here_ , never orders anything really good. You know what, I'm gonna bring you the specialty of the chef, made just for you, with extra home made sauce. What about it? Sounds good? And Li, I know you are having vegetarian sandwiches. I'll bring you something cool too, Mr. Hero. See you guys."

And left.

A vegetarian Inuyasha? Was that what I heard?

I looked ahead and saw Li covering his face with his left hand again. As I looked, he took a deep breath and looked back at me. He blushed (of course), when he saw that I looking at him.

"Friend of yours, then?" I asked, holding back a laugh.

"This sucker is my best friend, actually." He said, looking kind of annoyed. "It seems like he teamed up with my grandpa to embarrass me the whole day."

"Oh." I said. "Do you go to the same school?"

"Yeah. We have studied together forever."

Silence again.

"You aren't a person of many words, are you?" I asked.

He blushed again. "No, not really. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."

I looked at him surprised, and, weirdly, kind of disappointed with his politeness. _"Inuyasha would never, ever, say that. He almost never apologized."_

"Sorry, hum, did I say something wrong?" Li asked with a frown.

My expression had given me away. "NO! No, not at all. You are being super sweet." And I smiled, suppressing the disappointing feeling that had sunken in.

Before Li could answer though, Griffin came back: "SO, I brought you guys some courtesy tea, with some new biscuits our incredible chef is testing out."

He had just showed up out of nowhere, with two cups of tea, and a plate full of chocolate biscuits.

Li crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Say your mother I said hi, Grif, and that everything is great."

Blue hair raised his eyebrows (which were dark brown, and not blue), pretending to be surprised. "But, _Liam_ , you didn't even try it yet! You wouldn't lie to the incredible chef of this house, would'ya?"

"Griffin, I have lunch on your house every other day, your mother baked my birthday cake, her food _always_ tastes good." Li answered, looking impatient.

Griffin, then, turned to me and said, "See, there you have a man with good taste. And a great athlete too. Did he tell you he's in our water polo team?"

"No, he didn't." I answered, laughing. "I was trying to force information out of him the whole day actually." I raised my eyebrow at him, but Li had chosen that moment to have a looong sip of his tea, as if I wasn't talking about him.

Griffin laughed and started propaganda time. "No surprise, we have a shy specimen here. In fact, if this gigantic peace of greatness didn't have some flaws, he wouldn't exist, would he?" Li just looked at Griffin, horrified. "But, you know, that's a good thing, 'cause boy Li is a man of action, you see. Very romantic, and, according to rumors, a _great_ kisser…"

"GRIFFIN!"

"What? I'm making your date, bro."

"Can't you just be a normal waiter?"

"Of course not, I'm your best friend, not a normal waiter, it's my job to make you look good in front of the girl."

I was laughing a lot now, with Griffin's attitude and their discussion. I was actually flattered with all the attention. Except, of course, for the _other girls kissing_ thing, that brought a tiny pointy of jealousy to me.

"HONESTLY, man, get out."

"SURE YOU UNGREATEFUL LAD."

"Lad? What the fuck."

"Do you think you're the only one who speaks _british_? Ungrateful _and_ presumptuous." And left again.

Me and Li just looked to each other and started laughing.

"He's so funny!" I said.

"When he wants to be, sure. I'm sorry for this anyway."

"So, you both go to the American school, right?"

"Yeah, how did you figure?" Li asked laughing

"The blue eyes would have given it away even if you hadn't said anything. Also, Griffin didn't act or look like a Japanese person at all."

"Yeah, Griffin can't hide himself even if tried. And, in fact, he doesn't try, hence the blue hair." Li said, laughing.

I had an insight, all of sudden. "Li, let me ask you something. Are you a haafu*?" ( _N/A: Japanese slang for people who are half Japanese- half foreign)_.

"Yes." He said, smiling. "I do look a little Japanese, though, don't I."

I shook my head, agreeing. "Except for these amazing eyes you have."

"Yours are prettier." He said.

We both blushed, but I couldn't stop smiling. I felt happier then I remembered in a long time.

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We ate very well at the cafe.

After a rocky start, conversation started flowing a little better between Li and me. After a while talking, I had this warm feeling in my chest, I felt like we were old friends that had not seen in a long time.

As disappointing as it might be, though. Li didn't remember me at all, and despite his appearance, he was nothing like InuYasha.

Li had lived this whole life in Tokyo, studied in the American school with the military sons and daughters, and lived above the small pet store with his grandfather, who happened to be a veterinary.

He liked to read, to draw, and, the weirdest part, he was partly vegetarian.

"I had never met anybody vegetarian before." I said, stealing one of his fries, and feeling secretly happy that we already felt close enough for me to do that. "I have seen it in movies I think."

"I don't like the idea of eating dead animals." Li said after the last bite of his vegetarian sandwich. "I guess it's because I always helped my grandfather taking care of dogs, and birds, and every sort of animal really. You can get really attached."

He wasn't a strict vegetarian, although Li liked the idea of not eating dead animals, vegetarianism was some sort of foreign concept in Japan, and it was almost impossible finding vegetarian food anywhere. By convenience, he was obliged to eat animals, otherwise, eating anywhere other than his house would be impossible.

"Does that mean you cook?" I asked, interested.

Li laughed. "Everybody asks me that. Is it that weird that a man can use a stove, honestly?" He then took my distracted moment to steal a spoonful of ice cream, before I could stop him.

"Hey!" I protested too late, he was already enjoying _my_ chocolate ice cream.

We both started laughing for no reason.

Another thing about Li, he had an easy laugh. He was shy, polite and kept a smile in his face through most of the conversation.

I could now tell something Li had in common with Inuyasha: They were both insecure. I notices this by the way he talked about himself ("I do draw something, but it's not that great."), but this insecurity made him a quiet, shy man. Inuyasha, on the other hand, had learned, in the rough world he lived in, that his insecurity should be hidden behind a wall of sarcasm and violence.

"you're the opposite to him." I murmured.

"Sorry, what did you say." Li asked, turning his attention from Mr. Hero, back to me.

"Nothing, I just thought out loud how good this ice cream was."

Li smiled again and brought Mr. Hero gray-brown head to his lap, to pat his long ears. Mr. Hero liked it so much he closed his eyes a little bit.

We fell in a comfortable silence for a moment, before Li reluctantly recognize he had to head back to the pet shop.

"Okay." I said, sadly.

We went to the cashier to pay, and Li actually paid for both of us, no matter how much I protested. After that, he and Griffin stopped for a second to talk about their upcoming aquatic polo practice. It seemed the new captain of the team had changed again the time of the practice and they were both mad about it.

"I mean, we can't not go." Li said later, as we walked back to the pet shop. "We're a team and it's very important to show up, but I can't just leave my grandfather alone any time I want, and Griffin has to take shifts in his mother's cafe, none of us can close the shop and go!" He finished the sentence with a deep breath, showing all his frustration with the situation. "Some of us have responsibilities you know?"

"I understand." I said, trying to be supportive. "I'd like to help you, but I don't know how."

Li shot me a thankful look. "Thanks for listening, really."

Now I was the one blushing.

We got to the door of the petshop and Li let Mr. Hero loose to enter the shop. However, he stayed and looked at me.

We both stood at the door of the shop, awkwardly, waiting for the other to say something.

"So, I-"

"We could-"

"No, you first"

"No, you first"

We both had talked at the same time and now shared a nervous, timid laugh.

"Ladies first, please." Li said, affectionally.

I started toying with my necklace, feeling shy and emotional. "Nothing, really, I just wanted to say I liked talking to you."

Li though, had locked his eyes on my chest and was staring at me wide-eyed.

I looked at him and back at my chest. "What? What's wrong?"

"where did you find this?" He said, breathless. "where did you buy this necklace of yours?"

Then, I realized he was staring at my necklace made of Inuyasha's beads.

"Oh, this?" I tried to think quickly in something that wouldn't make me sound crazy. "it's from an old necklace. It broke, so I took a couple of beads and turned into a nicer necklace."

Li was looking at me and the necklace, looking scared and frustrated. "But did you buy it somewhere?" He asked abruptly. "where did it come from?"

I looked at him surprised, trying to understand where this harshness was coming from. _Maybe he remembers being Inuyasha now? Maybe if I push him a little bit, he'll remember his past life?_

I was overwhelmed with a feeling of hope I couldn't describe.

"It's old. It's really old. Like from the _Sengoku Jidai_ old." I said, while looking for his eyes.

However, it didn't ring the bell and Li just looked more frustrated than ever.

"But where did you get it? Did you buy it in an antique store?" He asked, louder, looking at me intensely.

"No!" I said, upset, and a little scared. "It was from a friend of mine." He opened his mouth again, and I completed my sentence: "I'm afraid you can't talk to him. He _died_ some years ago."

I couldn't help it, when I said Inuyasha had died, my voice broke and tears came to my eyes.

My tears brought him back to normal. Li took a deep breath, looking away from me.

"I'm sorry". He said, in a low voice. "I didn't mean to make you remember something painful… it's just that.."

He then put his hand under his green t-shirt and pulled out a necklace, that looked a little bit like mine, made with Inuyasha's beads.

"I have an identical one."


	4. Fallen

Inuyasha was falling, a trail of blood behind him, and I felt my heart skip a beat.

There was a distant noise, as if someone was screaming, and I didn't know who it was. I wonder If it was me.

"HE DID IT, HE OPENED THE WAY." Kouga screamed. "HERE IS NARAKU'S HEART."

Inuyasha's sacrifice had worked and he created an open way to Naraku's heart and the shikon no tama.

I quickly took the arrow Kikyo had given me, feeling blood coming down the side of my face, feeling my head spinning, my heart racing, tears in my eyes, and I gave the final blown.

There was an explosion of gold and pink, and Naraku was purified along with the shikon no tama.

That's it. I thought triumphantly. It was over.

We won! We destroyed him, we destroyed the shikon no tama.

I barely remember what happened afterwards.

I was hurt, tired and scared, hanging on to the robe of the fire-rat like my life depended on it.

Kirara gave us a ride to the bottom of the cliff, where we started looking for Inuyasha. We called his name over and over.

At this point, we were all still refusing to believe we were looking for his body. Even Kouga was calling for him, impatiently, waiting for him to show up out of nowhere and punch him.

Inuyasha had been hurt so many times and survived, _he would survive this too_ , right?

Right?

Please, let me be right this time.

We found him a while later, or better saying, we found _them_ a while later.

Somehow, Inuyasha had managed to fall exactly next to where Kikyo's body was, and he had managed to crawl to her side. Now they laid together, unmoving. Inuyasha's arm was on top of her and their hands were tied together.

Tetsusaiga was back to being a rusty sword, and it was forgotten a few metters behind, with it's scabbard.

We got close enough to be able to see their faces, turned to each other, as if they had looked into each other's eyes, before permanently closing them. They both were dirty, covered in blood and soil, but still had peaceful expressions on their faces. Inuyasha looked calm as I have never seen, as if he was asleep, and Kikyo had a small smile. They both looked so relieved…

As we looked, startled, Kikyo's soul carriers came and their bodies dissolved in pure, beautiful, blue light.

We just watched as their souls ascended, dancing together, to the sky.

On the ground, the only thing remaining was Inuyasha's rosary.


	5. Frustation

Li was frustrated. Very frustrated.

Stupidly, the only thing he could think of doing right now, was to punch something. Hard. A lot.

So he came to the gym nearby his house to punch a big sandbag.

He always felt kind of stupid doing it, because, well, first, he wasn't very good at it, and because the whole idea of punching a heavy thing that couldn't move seemed to form a rather ridiculous scene.

But it was such a great stress reliever.

He kept punching, and punching, and kicking the sandbag for a while. He didn't notice if he was alone in the room, and at some point, he lost track of time. He just kept centralizing all of his frustrations in this inanimate object, trying to literally punch his way out of the emotional labyrinth he felt trapped in.

After what it seemed a long time, he just stopped, and rested his forehead against the sandbag.

Behind his closed eyes, though, Kagome's tearful face appeared. She was holding her necklace and looking at him straight in the eye.

He gave a quick punch against the sandbag, his forehead still resting on it, then he just held on in this position for a while, hoping that somehow the sandbag would absorb all his worries.

Li stood in that position for a while, in silence, and then he started hearing:

"Dude, what's wrong with Liam?" Said a worried voice.

"I don't know, man, but it has to do with that girl." Griffin said, sounding like he was the wise one.

"But didn't they went out, like, _once_?"

"Don't you know anything about love, Archie? Never heard of love at first sight?"

Finally, Li lifted his head from the sandbag, and looked at the door.

Griffin and Archie had been looking at him from the door, and Li could see both their heads looking peeking, while the rest of their bodies was hidden behind the wall.

When Archie saw him looking at them, he immediately got red and hid his head behind the door, Griffin on the other hand, being himself just said loud and sarcastically: "So you finally noticed us here, Mike Tyson…"

"Hello to you guys too." Li said in an annoyed voice. "How long have you been there?"

Griffin disappeared behind the door for a second and appeared again pushing Archie's wheeling chair inside the room.

"Not long." Archie said, looking very embarrassed, and looking up at him from his chair. "Maybe 5 minutes. We were worried because you have been here for a full half hour."

"We actually thought you left without saying anything, given your _great_ mood." Griffin said, resting his elbows on the back of Archie's chair. "But when we came here, you were trying to murder Mr. Sandy over here."

Li just sighed, just realizing how tired he was all of sudden. He was so covered in sweat, he might as well have been swimming, and he hadn't quite caught his breath yet.

"Something happened" He finally said, out of breath, getting a towel from the nearby chair and starting to dry his neck. "I'm very frustrated and upset. So I came here."

Archie just shot him a look of solidarity, as if he meant to say he was there for him. Griffin, on the other hand, replied, being the endless pit of sensitiveness, Li knew he was: "Yeah, awesome. Great answer, bro. Now, you can stop being a total asshole and start telling us why you are frustrated and upset? That would be great. Thanks."

Li knew this sarcasm was a way of Griffin showing his sympathy, but he was annoyed anyway. "Dude, what if I need some personal space?"

"You are not getting it until you tell us what the fuck made you go all war machine on that shit sandbag."

Li just went to the other side of the room, and let his wet back slide down the wall until he sat on the ground. He just stood there for a second playing with his necklace, while Griffin pushed Archie's chair to his side, and sat on his other side, looking impatient.

He waited for Archie to come down his chair and sat on the ground before starting: He told them about the ending of the date, after everything had gone unbelievably well, and how, he noticed she had the exact same necklace he had.

"Wait." Archie said, shocked. "Like that necklace you got from your parents?"

"Yeah." Li agreed, sad. "I got so shocked when I saw it, I acted out. I was a total jerk. Kept asking her where she got it, and when she said she got it from a friend, I asked who the guy was, and well, guess what, the dude passed away three years ago, and I actually made her cry."

Griffin just whistled in disbelieve and Archie looked at him wide eyed.

"Great move bro, made the girl cry on the first date." Griffin finally said, while patting his shoulder". Li just limited himself to shoot Griffin an assassin look.

"But why did she started crying?" Archie asked. "Was it because of the way you talked to her?"

"Maybe." Li said, full of guilty, crossing his arms. "I didn't mean to be so rough though. I just really wanted to know who the dude was, I was thinking he might be my brother or something crazy like that, but as it turns out, I think he was her ex-boyfriend. When she told me he died, her eyes got full of tears."

Li's voice broke, and sighed, overwhelmed with guilty. Her tearful eyes had broken his heart, and he felt awful for having made her cry. He stopped talking when he saw that, but, still… The idea of him being so close and so far away from a clue… that _might not even be a clue_ , made him so angry.

To make the situation worse, when he saw he had made Kagome cry, said a quick goodbye and entered the store. He hadn't talked to her since.

"She actually came by the store a couple of times. But she talked to grandpa, I didn't come down." Li said, coming back to play with necklace. "I know I'm being asshole, but I'm so frustrated, I'm not ready to talk to her yet."

He didn't need to say much more than that, Griffin and Archie knew him well enough to understand his motivations.

"Well, at least she's still into you." Archie said, with a small, timid smile. "The girl came back to talk to you and all. That's a great sign."

"yeah, Jizo even told me she left her address and phone number." Griffin added.

"Did you talk to my grandfather?"

"Yeah, I did. He's a real gossiper, ya know? I knew he would tell me right away why you were so quiet."

Li just looked at the ceiling, controlling his feelings as well as he could.

Would he ever find out something about his parents? Would he someday find a clue about his origins?

"Li…" Archie asked, as cautiously as he could. "But what makes you think it's not the same necklace?" Griffin glared at him, as if he was crazy, telling him silently and insistently to shut up but Archie continued. "What if she's related to you somehow? Or maybe that guy was? Doesn't he have a family that you could go after?"

Li immediately felt a rush of affection for Archie, for trying to help him and lift his hopes up. "No." He answered. "I actually did inquire her about that, and well, it seemed they buried the dude with his necklace. She just said that… well, she and some friends sort of stole some beads, as a way of remembering him, or whatever. But well, the rest of it was definitely buried with the guy. And it wasn't a family thing, he was given the necklace a gift from another person, she didn't know who."

Both his friends sighted in disappointment.

The three of them just sat on the ground of gym for a while, in a comfortable silence, as if they all were trying to figure out an explanation for what had happened.

"Well" Griffin finally started after some minutes. "You know, now that we know the necklace wasn't hers. You do know you can keep going out with her, right? It's not like she's a long lost sister or something."

Archie and Li just stared him for a second, shocked with what he had just said, and they Li burst into laughter.

"I had not even think about this!" He said, among laughs.

Archie started laughing as well.

Griffin however, was offended by their reaction. "what! You do know it was a possibility! Now stop being a pussy and _call her_!"


	6. The Shrine

" _Well, at least she's still into you." Archie said, with a small, timid smile. "The girl came back to talk to you and all. That's a great sign."_

After they finished talking, Li took a shower at the gym and changed.

He needed to go somewhere before going back home, so he called Jizo and said he'd be late to help him today.

His grandfather, always great, always kind and loving, just said okay, and told him he didn't even need to come if didn't want to. Li could feel him smiling through the phone.

Jizo's tenderness, though, sometimes made him feel guilty. Li was very aware that he should be happy with what he had, and enjoy the fact he had found such a nice old man, that had given him everything he needed, asking nothing in return… But he couldn't look forget his past.

Li loved Jizo, with all his heart, but there were things he just couldn't let go, no matter how much he tried.

With too many thoughts in his head, Li decided he needed to pray a little bit.

Then he headed to that one shrine, on the other side of town, where he felt he was being listened to.

Li threw the coin, then hang the bell, and stayed there for a second, eyes closed, thinking, praying, and more then ever, wishing.

Wishing to know where that necklace had come from, to know his origins, to know he had not completely screwed up with that nice girl...

A while later, he met with the Shinto Priest of the temple, Mr. Higurashi.

Li didn't have a formed opinion about this old priest, but he was completely sure he was crazy. Everytime Mr. Higurashi saw him, he'd try to sell him some old gift of the shrine, and supposed spells to get rid of evil spirits. Li would eventually buy them, just because he wanted to help the shrine, and depending on what he had just bought, he'd give to Mr. Hero to play, or simply lose it.

The priest must have sold him maybe a hundred of little glass balls, of at least seven different colors, he said it was called the shikon no… hum, the _shikon no what_ , exactly? Li couldn't remember, he'd stop listening whenever the old man would start talking about a supposed magical ancient power that didn't even exist in first place.

Li felt sorry for the priest though, because, well… He _thought_ he had a granddaughter.

 _Everytime_ Mr. Higurashi saw Li, which must have been like, 10 times, or more, in four years, he'd brag about his granddaughter's incredible spiritual powers.

However, she was never ever, there, at the shrine.

Li remembered asking him, some years ago, where she'd go to school, or if she'd help him in spiritual, hum… business, and he, since then, started talking, no stop, about her terrible health condition.

It seems his granddaughter was always victim to the most terrible, absurd diseases. All of them keeping her from ever being at home, or going to school, and, of course, all of them terribly transmissible, which also prevented everyone from visiting her in the hospital.

Yeah. Right

Mr. Higurashi wouldn't ever miss the chance to talk about how proud he was of her, and his excuses to her absence have grown increasingly more and more absurd.

Li often wondered if anyone would believe them.

Today was no different. He hadn't been to the shrine in months, but obviously, the old man remembered him, and started to try sell him stuff.

"…you see, this is great for pushing away bad spirits…" He started to show some random animal dry leg, that Li vagally remembered to have already bought, and that Mr. Hero had already eaten and liked a lot.

However, the priest talked SO much and SO fast, Li couldn't even say whether he wanted to buy something or not, so, he just patiently (kind of) waited until Mr. Higurashi got tired of speaking, and he could just buy something and leave.

"But hey, how's you granddaughter, Mr. Higurashi?" Li asked, not knowing why. He immediately regretted having made the question, as the priest would sure start talking about some random mysterious spots, or whatever, that had shown up on her last week.

"Oh she's great, thanks for asking!" He said with a big smile. "She must be arriving from school anytime soon. She is helping to organize the spring festival, you see, but I think she should be on her way home by now."

Li raised jus his eyebrows in surprise, not saying anything. After coming to the temple so many times, and having seen the priest's daughter and grandson, but never the perpetually sick girl, he was sure she passed away, or never even existed at all.

Finally, sometime later, Li actually manage to buy something that looked like fun for Mr. Hero, and was heading towards the stairs to leave.

Mr. Higurashi was accompanying him there, still blabbering about something Li wasn't paying attention, and then, the old man said. "Oh look, here's _Kagome_. Guess you'll finally get to meet my granddaughter after all".

Li just stopped and looked in disbelief, as Kagome approached.

She seemed distracted, looking down while biting her thumb nail.

When her grandfather said hi, though, she looked up, and stopped, surely as shocked as Li was.

For a second, they just stared at each other, and Li started feeling increasingly stupid, not being able to think in anything useful to say.

Kagome's expression wasn't very encouraging though, she looked at him with a blank expression, which, for some reason, gave Li the impression he was in trouble.

Mr. Higurashi noted, right way, that they knew each other, but seemed unaware of any tension that might have emerged. Kagome eventually caught up to the dual and the priest started haply talking to his living-existing-not-fruit-of-his-imagination granddaughter about how Li would always pay attention to his stories and buy his spiritual gifts.

She listened to it, faking a smile to her grandfather and saying a cold "hi" to Li, who was starting to feel sweat forming on the back of his neck.

He was still trying to understand her expression, which now seemed increasingly annoyed.

Finally, she simply started walking, and put her hand on Li's shoulder to indicate that he should start walking too. Her grandfather was left behind, still talking.

They had just got to the back of the shrine's store, where they couldn't be seen, when they heard: "HEY WHERE DID THEY GO."

"Well, I wish I could do that everytime he starts talking no stop like that" Li said trying to make a joke… Only to realize that he might have sounded super rude and disrespectful to her grandfather.

Kagome didn't seem to have noted though "What're you doing here?" She asked

Li felt guiltier when he heard the sadness in her voice, and debated with himself for a second whether he should lie and say that he came to see her or tell the truth.

He decided for the truth. "Well, I didn't know you lived here." He said. "I sometimes come to this shrine to pray."

Kagome kept looking at him with that indecipherable expression, now with the bonus of an arched eyebrow that was making Li even more nervous.

Unfortunately, this made the boy start nervous-talking: "I'msorryIdidn'tansweranyofyourmessages, I'm truly sorry, and just had a lot on my mind and I came here to clear my head and he showed up. I didn't even know you existed, honestly, you grandfather was always talking about how spiritually powerful you are, but how you are always sick and, hospitalized…"

"Wait" she interrupted, looking surprised. "Does he still tell people I'm sick with weird diseases?"

NOW that's some expression Li could recognize, that expression of 'impatience with your grandfather because he would always say things he shouldn't say to your friends'.

"Hum, yeah." He said, hesitantly. "I don't know if he tells other people but he definitely told me a few times that you were in the hospital."

Kagome looked up, and took a deep breath looking very frustrated.

Li realized it was a problem she had been having with her grandfather for a while. "Look, if it makes you feel better, he used to tell me that all the time about like, three or four years ago, and now, he doesn't mention it all that much. He just always say you aren't home."

This seemed to have caught her attention. "You used to come here four years ago."

"Yeah" He said, shrugging. "as I said, I didn't know you lived here, but I come here a few times a year ever since I was a child."

"Isn't it super far away for you?"

"Kind of, but I like to come here. I don't know why. I really like that tree over there."

Kagome seemed more and more frustrated, making Li started asking himself what he said wrong.

"Look, I'm not stalking you or anything like that..."

"No, no, it's okay, I know you're not."

"I WAS going to answer the messages."

"Aw, WERE you?" Kagome seemed to have remembered why she was mad at him in first place and now her expression was not hurt, was just really, really mad.

Li took a deep breath and continued. "Yes, I was and, also, I'm sorry. I'm very sorry for having lashing out on you like that, you didn't deserve it."

Kagome raised an eyebrow again. "I know."

He cleared his throat and continued "Soooo, do you, by any chance, wanna have a coffee or something, maybe then I can explain to you why I was so stressed when I saw the necklace."

Her eyes fell down to Li's chest where she could see his beads necklace. Kagome bit her lower lip, as if she was thinking, then said "Okay. I'm free now, just wait for me to change from this uniform."

She left before Li could respond.

So, while Kagome was in the feudal era fighting Naraku with Inuyasha, Inuyasha's reincarnation was coming to the temple, and, they never met because she was in the feudal era with the original Inuyasha.

The irony.

She picked up some nice pink dress from her closet, debating if she should make Li wait, suffer a little for not answering her messages, or if she should change fast and worry about showering later.

Kagome then remembered that, if she left Li alone for too long, grandpa would probably start inventing a story about how she had hemorrhoids, or worse, and decided to go back quickly.

Fortunately, when she went down, both Souta and her mother were busy, the former playing videogames and the latter cooking in the kitchen, and didn't paid her much attention; allowing her to exit silently and unquestioned.

When she got out, Li was seated on the stairs of the temple, looking to the sunset.

Two things crossed Kagome's mind, the first that, it didn't help anything that Li was so handsome. Even wearing grey sweat pants and a simple white shirt (she could tell he was at the gym because of the gym bag), he was super hot, and, also… his legs weren't moving.

He was just sitting there, listening to music with his earplugs, lost in thought. Almost unconsciously, she was hoping he'd show that same sign of impatience Inuyasha had, having one of his legs jumping up and down like Inuyasha did but, no.

Like herself and Kikyo, Inuyasha an Li had very different personalities.

When Kagome got close, the Li got up, baffling the dust out and taking the earplugs off. He smiled timidly and asked. "So, where are we going?"

Kagome bit her lip and felt her heart skip a bit when she saw that smile. ' _Completely different.'_ She thought _._

"Well, there's cheeseburger place around the corner, they have great fries."

It was a quiet walk to the restaurant, and just when they sat on the table and had large fries ordered, Li took a deep breath and started.

"So, the beads"

"Yes, the beads"

"Where do I start…"

"The beginning sounds like great"

He looked at her with a sarcastic expression and rolled her eyes, Kagome just crossed her arms, showing impatience, waiting for a good explanation.

"I don't remember if I told you, but I'm adopted, OK¿". He started, defensive mode on. "Jizo is not my biological grandfather, he adopted me when I was a child."

Li looked outside, playing with his beads with one hand, deliberately avoiding her eyes. "I was left at the door steps of the orphanage as a baby, and my mother, whoever she was, left me those beads. As silly as It might sound, I always thought that I'd find my… original family, if I found out where these beads came from. When I saw you wearing it, I thought you might know something, or, even worse, I got scared we might be related."

Li was interrupted by the waitress with the fries and the sodas.

He just looked at the fries and continued, looking guilty and gloomy. "I got overwhelmed with frustration when you said you didn't know anything."

Kagome just kept staring at him, trying to not show pity, but feeling her heart sink.

Sill, avoiding her gaze, Li cleared his throat and took a french-fry between his fingers. "I'm sorry I lashed out, I'm felt terrible afterwards. Seriously." He finally looked at her, as if debating if he should continue. "I just.. I've looked for them. A lot. And came across a lot of dead ends. Seeing the beads felt so close, yet so far away… no, wait, don't cry!"

Kagome wasn't crying but she did feel teary eyed. "It's a great reason to scream, honestly."

This seemed to have broken Li's concentration, so, for a moment, they both just took some fries from the table and ate, none of them looking very hungry. Kagome imagined his throat was so dry as hers.

Li now looked very depressed and angry and Kagome's heart sunk a little more.

"Hey" She said. "I accept your apologies."

"Thanks." He answered with a quiet, low voice.

"Why are you mad now¿"

Li seemed to debate a little whether he should answer, but finally decided to say. "I don't like to play the victim. I don't like when people feel sorry for me. I didn't want to ruin everything with this nice girl I just met, and have such a heavy date, talking of heavy shit, and I wish I hadn't brought this situation on ourselves."

"I'm sorry about that too, Kagome."

Kagome took a long zip of her soda, wandering how to answer. "Everybody has baggage, you know. Actually, I'm glad you shared something so deep with me."

Li looked at her looking genuinely surprise, and she continued.

"I'm sorry I made you relieve painful memories." Kagome started, suddenly feeling the need to share something too. "But I have sad stories too."

"I don't know where these beads are from, but I know they aren't a family thing. They used to belong to a guy I used to date, an ex-boyfriend. He had a collar full of them. Full of those beads, not just these little ones on the front. I loved him very dearly." A tear fell down her cheek she quickly cleaned it. "He had an… accident three years ago, a fatal one. Me and some friends took the beads and divided among ourselves to remember him."

"Honestly, I should not even be wearing them. It's kind of a comfortable weight to wear it, but, he's dead now, and, I'm not. That's it. I'm just not able to move on completely yet."

Li, at this point, had completely gave up on his attempt to eat, and just looked at Kagome with his head resting on his left hand, and desolated expression. "Fuck, I'm so sorry." He reclined back on his seat, and passed his fingers through his hairs. "Who'd say this stupid necklace would cause so much damage."

Kagome laughed a little bit. "Yes… but, well, your apology was accepted."

Li laughed a little bit, still looking glum. "At least that."

"And I'm sorry too." Kagome said, with her hands on her beads. "Talking about ex-boyfriends when you are with another guy is awful, but I just wanted you to know that these beads bring some painful memories for me too."

Li laughed again, looking more cheerful. "Well, I asked for it. At least now I know I gotta work hard, 'cause I have to some big shoes to fill."

"I just can't compete with who is dead."

Kagome hesitated when he said that, remembering saying those same words, a long time ago to Inuyasha. "Don't worry about it."

Li reclined on the table, getting closer to her, and putting his hands on the table, inviting her. "Look, I know what it is to not be able to let go of something, so I completely understand you. I'm not going to judge. We wear those fucked up necklaces for the same reason in the end, we both simply can't take our minds of unfinished businesses."

Kagome took his hands on hers, from across the table, surprised with this line of thought. "I'm really trying to though." She said, giving a sad smile.

"I guess we both have some baggage, huh." He said.

"I will help you carry yours, if you let me."

"So will I."

Li and Kagome smiled at each other, both suddenly very happy with the bond they had just created.

The rest of their date was a little bit more cheerful, and Li even got hungry enough to order a cheeseburger (with meat!).

They held hands all the way back to the shrine, and that warm feeling of a long existing friendship came back.

The more Kagome and Li talked, the more they discovered things in common, and at some point, Kagome promised to go to Li's polo game next week.

He left her on the stairs of the temple, with a kiss on the cheek that made her blush, and left.

Kagome waited until he had turned around the corner, and run up the stairs, trying to liberate the energy she had, feeling like she would fly at any moment.

She didn't think in Inuyasha, not for a single moment, that night.


End file.
